Anyone have much experience with VMWare virtual machines?

[shmokes]

I'm using VMWare Workstation 9 and the first time I used my virtual Windows 7 box it worked fine, but ever since then it's running so poorly. I can only really describe it as stuttering. Like, it goes completely unresponsive for 5 seconds, then works fine for 5 seconds, then unresponsive for 5 seconds, then fine for 5 seconds. It's infuriating. I've restarted both the virtual and host machines, but I can't figure it out. It still has plenty of free hard drive space allocated to it, as well as 2 GB of RAM. I think I gave it plenty of resources.

[lordnacho]

I'm running Win7 in 4 gigs, VMWare Player(free one), runs fine but just using for basic stuff.  2 gigs is the minimum requirements for the 64 bit, might want to allocate more depending what you are using it for.   What apps are you running? 

Oh and check the task manager to see how it's handling the memory and if any procs are spiking. 

[drventure]

Haven't upgraded to 9 yet, but I'm using the latest version 8.

I've used VMware workstation for, yikes, almost a decade. Of all the virtualizing products I've used, in my experience, VMWare trumps them all for stability and speed in the VM, but, I've still had some issues from time to time.

I'm guessing your host doesn't have those problems?

I'd try checking out taskman, on both the host and guest, to see if there's anything chewing up tons of CPU.

Second, I'd make sure that if you had any network mappings, that they're all still valid. Mappings pointing to non-existent devices have caused me similar probs in the past

Next, you might check the VMware forums. They've helped me out a number of times in the past on issues with vm networking, USB, etc, so there might be something there.

[MonMotha]

Is this a laptop?

Check in your BIOS for an option along the lines of "Always run the system timer" or "Run timers while in low power CPU states".  Some desktops may have this, too, but it's very common on laptops as it buys some power savings if that's disabled, so it's usually the default.

Of course, your machine may be doing this and not have an option to fix it, in which case I guess get a different computer.

Also, try the Windows Virtual PC, Xen, Linux KVM, etc. and see if they do the same thing.

[shmokes]

Thanks for the tips. Nothing immediately jumps out. I'll check out the BIOS. I haven't had a chance yet. But it's a desktop so I won't hold my breath. Task Manager reveals nothing. Neither the Host nor virtual machines are using substantial CPU cycles . . . and there's no rhyme or reason to the freezes. It'll sometimes freeze on a spike when the CPU registers at 30% or something, but other times it'll be frozen at 0%. Similarly the memory is more than 3/4 free. Also, I'm not running anything taxing. Almost nothing is even installed on the machine and it's having these problems right off that bat from the moment it hits the desktop. Much more and I'll try scrapping it and starting from scratch, but I hate to do that rather than understanding what happened.

[ChadTower]

Have you tried taking an inventory of processes running when it's like that?  If you can narrow those down to the optional processes, and then eliminate them one by one, that might reveal if it's the VMware, the OS, or something you can swap out like the JVM or antivirus.

[drventure]

Another thought. Do you have another VM Guest image (or maybe grab a linux image off the web)?

Just wondering if any other VM would demonstrate the same freeze. If so, that might indicate a prob with VMware or it's installation, rather than the VM itself.

[MonMotha]

What you are describing is EXACTLY what will happen if your system is stopping timers when the CPU is in idle mode.  I had to bang my head against this problem on my laptop when trying to use "Windows XP Mode" (which is hardware VM based) until I finally found that BIOS option.  It's apparently somewhat common but generally undocumented.

Unfortunately, I know very little about VMWare to try to help you.  If you were using Xen, I might have some tips.

[ark_ader]

Shmokes try defragging your host HDD.  Typically Win7 64 needs 4gb but you can get away with 2gb if you strip it down or use the 32 bit version.  I have 16gb on the server but I like to ration it out to the VMs.

I sometimes get lag when I run 5 VMs running Win7 but I tend to keep them using one processor than two.  I also get lag with the Virus scanner too which can be a bit irritating.

I got 15 VMs running MicroXP, the the host was like a zombie.  So it is not all about memory just your bottleneck.

Try those tips and lets see your resource log after running a VM with an intensive APP like Word 2012.

Hope it works out for you! 

[kahlid74]

I'd be interested to know what your host operating system is as far as specs and whether you experience any stuttering when running without VMware Workstation running in the background.  I've some many interesting things when it comes to virtualization.  Check anti-virus and windows update to see if either is working.  I would also run disk/memory diagnostics to verify both of these subsystems are without issue.

[shmokes]

The host is Windows 8 RTM. It's pretty well spec'd.  Core 7 920 (first gen) at 2.67 GHz and 12 GB of RAM. The hard drive doesn't need defragged as the installation is only maybe a month old, clean. And the host doesn't experiencing any of this stuttering . . . only the VM. Also, it's worth noting, that the VM ran perfectly smooth at first and now it simply doesn't. Ever. The problem goes nonstop regardless of rebooting the host or VM. Also, the VM isn't running any software to speak of. I run it solely for VPN cos the network at work doesn't yet support VPN connections coming from a Windows 8 box.

I'm gonna check my BIOS in a few minutes for that setting MonMotha was talking about. Soon I'm gonna have to give it up and reinstall a new VM, but that was a good idea to grab a linux image to make sure it's not my VMWare that's bad.

[MonMotha]

I guess it also goes without saying, but make sure hardware virtualization (VT-x on Intel) is enabled in your BIOS.  Some systems default it to off to prevent the hypothetical "hypervisor rootkit".  I dunno about VMWare, but Windows Virtual PC will drop back to full software emulation if hardware support isn't present, and that's REALLY slow.

[kahlid74]

The host is Windows 8 RTM. It's pretty well spec'd.  Core 7 920 (first gen) at 2.67 GHz and 12 GB of RAM. The hard drive doesn't need defragged as the installation is only maybe a month old, clean. And the host doesn't experiencing any of this stuttering . . . only the VM. Also, it's worth noting, that the VM ran perfectly smooth at first and now it simply doesn't. Ever. The problem goes nonstop regardless of rebooting the host or VM. Also, the VM isn't running any software to speak of. I run it solely for VPN cos the network at work doesn't yet support VPN connections coming from a Windows 8 box.

I'm gonna check my BIOS in a few minutes for that setting MonMotha was talking about. Soon I'm gonna have to give it up and reinstall a new VM, but that was a good idea to grab a linux image to make sure it's not my VMWare that's bad.

You've installed the VMware drivers into the Windows 7 VM right?  I would try a Windows XP and a Linux VM and see how your system responds.  Make sure to install VMware drivers in both VMs.

[ark_ader]

The host is Windows 8 RTM

There is your problem.

Downgrade to Windows 7.